


We're All From Somewhere

by eafay70



Series: A Very Merry "Advent" Calendar [4]
Category: Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-09-06 01:54:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8730076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eafay70/pseuds/eafay70
Summary: Sequel to "Bringing Your Son to Work." Davi Lucca and Neymar learn about immigration as defined by others.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aguantare](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aguantare/gifts).



> This was inspired by our conversation-via-comments on your most recent story. I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Yes, I'm using Mrs. H. again, this time to compare the experiences of immigrants long ago and immigrants now. Her story is loosely based on parts of my family's history.
> 
> My inspiration for the assignment was a project we did at my synagogue about family history and immigration.

Having never been the best of students, Neymar was grateful that Davi Lucca was still young enough for simple homework assignments like single-digit addition and handwriting practice. The fact that these assignments didn't rely on American culture or in-depth knowledge of the English language was another source of relief to Neymar.  
Unfortunately, that wasn't true of the Grandparents Assignment.

The goal of the Grandparents Assignment is to encourage students to gather details about their family histories. Students are to invite their grandparents to a special workshop next week in which they will research their families in various immigration databases dating as far back as 1800.

"I didn't want to tell the teacher that _vovô e vovó_ live in Brazil and can't come here on such short notice," admitted Davi Lucca sheepishly.  
"I understand." To be honest, Neymar didn't really understand how the teacher could get away with this assignment, but he'd ponder that later. "And I don't think the workshop would be very fun for them. We already know everything the immigration database could tell us about our family."  
"We do?" Davi Lucca looked confused. "But the teacher said most people don't have the records because the immigrants were all old."  
Neymar pretended to be shocked. "Are you calling me old?! I came to this country after the invention of television, you know!"  
_"Desculpe, papai."_  
_"Tá bom, amorzinho."_ Neymar tickled his son to show he hadn't really been insulted. "The assignment is meant for people whose families came to America a very long time ago. That's just...not our family."  
"Oh." Davi Lucca furrowed his brow. "I wish we were in Mrs. H.'s family. I bet they're the right family for this."  
Neymar opened his mouth to object to the word "right," but closed it when he realized Davi Lucca had a point. He then said, "Let's call Mrs. H."

Neymar dialed Mrs. H.'s phone number, then gave the phone to Davi Lucca so he could do the talking.  
"Good evening, this is the Har-Sardeh residence, the lady of the house speaking."  
Neymar, who was listening alongside his son, mouthed instructions to Davi Lucca. "Hello, this is Davi Lucca."  
"DAVI LUCCA! HOORAY! How are you, young man?"  
"I'm good. How are you?"  
"Much better now that someone's called me for once! What's the occasion?"  
"At school we have to do a Grandparents Assignment. There's going to be a bunch of historians next week so we can do family research with our grandparents. Can you be my grandmother for the assignment?"  
"Hm...well, if I'm going to be your grandmother, your father has to be my son or son-in-law. Might I have a word with him, dearie?"  
Davi Lucca gave the phone to Neymar. "It's Neymar, Mrs. H."  
"Hello, dear. Is this the project where the kids ask questions about growing up in America a long time ago, followed by a family history research session involving immigration an even longer time ago?"  
"Yes. How did you know?"  
"The historian who started the project is a friend. He started it when the town was even more boring than it is now - my family was considered exotic because we were Jewish! So back then, the project made sense: let the kids hear firsthand about things like the Great Depression, and then get the families together to find out where they came from, because most of the families didn't know a lot of details. Dalia did the project with her father's family."  
"Oh." Neymar gulped nervously. "Davi Lucca thought of you when he realized my parents need more than a week to plan a trip here."  
"I see." There was a pause. "I'd love to help him."  
"Thank you so much!" Neymar felt relieved.  
He gave Davi Lucca the phone. "Thank you, Mrs. H.!"

Neymar drove Davi Lucca to Mrs. H.'s house that weekend to go over the project. They started by filling out a family tree, which turned out to be problematic.  
"I already wrote my name in the middle," said Davi Lucca. "We did that part in class."  
"That's all right," said Mrs. H. "Write in your father's name where it belongs." Davi Lucca did. "Now draw in a dotted line between his parents to represent me, his unofficial other parent."  
After doing so, Davi Lucca asked, "Do I write Mrs. H. here?"  
"No, you'll need my full name. You can copy it from here." She gave him a piece of paper with letterhead reading **Bracha Eidel Gluk Har-Sardeh**  
"That's a really long name!" marveled Davi Lucca.  
"Why do you think I go by Mrs. H.?"

Since Neymar had to work the day of the research workshop, he didn't get to hear about it until Davi Lucca came home from school and happily proclaimed, "Mrs. H. yelled at the teacher!"  
_"O que ela fez?"_ Mrs. H. was easily riled up, there was no doubt about that, but yelling at a teacher seemed a little much.  
"She yelled at the teacher!" Davi Lucca sat down and told his father about his day. "Mrs. H. came to the classroom with the other grandparents and stood next to me. The teacher said she wasn't my grandma, so we weren't family, so it didn't count. Mrs. H. got mad and said, really loudly, 'Who do you think you are, defining other people's families? I bake this boy cookies and brownies! I buy him presents! His father takes better care of me than most of the children I brought into this world! THAT'S family, you nincompoop! And besides, this is a research workshop on immigration, and he has all the immigration information he could ever need in the form of his father, who came here BY HIMSELF mere decades ago! But that apparently isn't good enough for you, so I decided to teach ALL of you a lesson: We're all from somewhere!"  
Neymar blinked in surprise as Davi Lucca caught his breath. "She said all that?"  
"At the top of her lungs! And then the historians started to clap, and then the other grandparents clapped, so we all started clapping, and then Mrs. H. and the other grandparents passed out snacks! It was awesome!"  
"It sounds awesome." Neymar made a mental note to give Mrs. H. a big hug the next time he saw her. "But did you actually do research?"  
"Yeah! It's all here!" He took out a folder labeled  Immigration History of the ~~da Silva~~ Har-Sardeh (Bergfeld) Family  
"What's a Bergfeld?" asked Neymar.  
"That was Mrs. H.'s family name a long time ago. They changed it when they left Austria." He started showing his father the papers and photos that told the story of a poor teenager who made it all alone to America, where she worked long hours so her only child could afford to go to college and make enough money to support her in her old age. "And Mrs. H. wrote a note for you to read to me."  
It was on a piece of looseleaf paper in the back of the folder: "I never knew the full details behind my bubbe's journey to this country or my father's early years. Now that I do, I understand why I'm so fond of you two. Love, Mrs. H., granddaughter of Hadassah and daughter of Dovid Lazer"

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is always greatly appreciated.


End file.
